


Catch me when I fall

by Moonwolflove



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-15 14:05:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8059207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonwolflove/pseuds/Moonwolflove
Summary: Life changes the moment they find the girl, left for death in some dark alleyway. Mahiru wouldn't be Mahiru if he didn't try to save her; knowing that the only way of doing so is by convincing Kuro. The girl, however, turns out to be an old acquaintance of the servamp and he's not particularly keen on turning her into a vampire. (Kuro x OC)





	1. Painting of life and death

Part 1

Painting of life and death

If there was anything Kuro hated wholeheartedly it was trouble. And he was quite the unlucky person for it was all that seemed to cross his path these days. From the dangerous Tsubaki to C3 and from C3 to his annoying younger brother Lawless. Sure, they were all a different kind of troublesome, but they were troublesome nonetheless. Even Mahiru was included in his mental list of troublesome things and persons. His name was written at the very end, beneath every other name, institution or thing that had once managed to annoy the hell out of Kuro.

Mahiru was a good person and his open, kind-hearted nature had made it rather easy for Kuro to like him. Over the months he had developed a certain fondness for the boy, which he treasured deep inside his heart. The fact that he felt that way, however, didn’t take away that the teen was a magnet for everything that was even remotely dangerous or troublesome. And when he did attract anything of the sort, Kuro was thrown into it head-first. 

Really, why was he always dragged into stuff he tried his best to avoid? Was it some evil twist of fate seeking to punish him? Because it certainly started to look like it.  
He climbed out of Mahiru’s backpack – relieved to see that the bright daylight had been replaced by darkness – and made himself comfortable on the boy’s shoulder. He nuzzled his small head against the eve’s neck, closed his eyes and sighed inaudibly. 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t deserve it though. Fate sought out those whose hands were stained with blood and whose shoulders carried the heavy load of guilt. He knew that he met both criteria…deep down, somewhere at the edge between conscious and subconscious - he knew that what he had done was wrong…but he just couldn’t and wouldn’t admit it to himself.

As he walked down memory lane, the path of never-ending darkness that had been his life, situated in the gloomiest realms of his mind, he was suddenly disturbed by a new kind of sensation. The wavering scene of his dream pulsed with an unknown energy from a source he could not see. It was reality threatening to pull him back into its mess. 

The puppet-like demon that was always following one step behind him was jumping around now, excited by the sudden change. “It seems that another one of your mistakes has caught up with you.” It said, as it got a whiff of a painfully familiar smell coming through the cracks in Kuro’s dream. 

Kuro shot him a furious glance. He knew what the demon meant, but he himself did not consider it a mistake. Whatever he had done, had been done in the best of her interests.  
“Shouldn’t you be going back?” the demon teased as it spun around. 

Kuro wanted to reply something along the line of “gladly”, but decided against doing so. He wasn’t entirely sure whether he really wanted to wake up. He knew what was awaiting him beyond the vague boundaries of his dreams, in that reality that caused him so much trouble. Like the demon, he had recognized the smell and it had promised little good. 

He turned around and glanced towards the cracks, which grew larger and larger with every passing second. It seemed that he didn’t have a choice. He had to wake up. 

The moment his mind entered reality again everything around him seemed to pass by as if in a haze. His senses felt numbed and it took a few seconds before they regained their full strength, submerging him with the familiar smell, intensifying it and taking it to a whole new level. 

He smelt the blood long before he could see it. A soft fragrance, warm and full of life…tinged with something sweet. It took control of his mind and opened the door to a room full of memories, showing him images of the owner – of her – taken in a time before he met Mahiru. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the pictures. He didn’t want to go there. It was too painful. 

Please, just go straight home, he thought. I can’t deal with this. I just can’t. 

Honestly, wasn’t it better to ignore situations like these? To run away instead of adding yet another layer of guilt and sorrow to an already cracked soul? 

“Kuro? Are you alright?” Mahiru asked worriedly as he felt the little black cat tense up on his shoulder. 

“Just tired,” he replied in his usual bored voice. “Wake me up when we are home.” 

“You’re always tired! Jeez, why am I even asking? You lazy vampire, I…huh?” Mahiru suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head to the left. They were standing in front of a dark narrow alleyway. The shadows crept up to them, dark and ominous, but were unable to touch them in the circle of light created by the streetlamp. 

“Did you hear that?” Mahiru asked, as he turned to face the dark place. 

Of course Kuro had heard it. In the past few seconds he had fervently wished for Mahiru not to notice anything of what was going on in that alley, but it had been to no avail. Fate was once more confronting him with how terrible and agonizing it could be, forcing him to think about the past and to recall old feelings.

Oh, how he wished he could just sink away into the sweet depths of indifference…not having to care about any of the trouble this god-forsaken world brought him. 

If only he could tell Mahiru that it had just been his imagination. Nothing more than a delusion of the mind. But he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. 

He kept quiet for a moment and then said: “Let’s go home.” 

“Are you crazy?!” That was about the response Kuro had expected from the Eve. “It sounds as if someone is in dire need of help!” And with that the boy dashed off into the alleyway, Kuro holding onto his shoulder. The vampire cat closed his eyes, not willing to see what he already knew…not willing to accept that it was her. 

Out of all people…why her? 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was pitch black in the alleyway and the more they advanced, the more the street lights started to fade. Mahiru carefully made his way through the darkness, moving around crates and other rubbish the small pathway was strewn with. He took his phone out of his pocket and held it out in front of him, using it as a flashlight. It wasn’t much, but at least he could now see where he was going. 

“Hello?” he called out, his voice cutting through the deafening silence. 

The word had only just left his mouth when it was met with a soft moan. A few meters ahead, he could see a small figure lying on the ground in what seemed to be…a pool of blood? 

The amount of dark red liquid present in the alleyway froze Mahiru to his spot. There was so much of it and it was literally everywhere. His body was paralyzed; he could only stare at the scene before him...at this painting of life and death...entranced by the frightening beauty of it. He shook his head, pulled himself together and forced himself to walk over to the source of the blood. He knelt down next to the motionless figure and saw that it was a teenage girl, not much older than he was. Her eyes were open – she was still conscious despite the enormous loss of blood – and weakly stared up at him. They were a dark blue, coloured by the pain and fear that were inflicted upon her body and soul.  
Mesmerizing was the first thought that sprung to Mahiru’s mind. Her eyes spoke of a strength, a willpower, that could only be met with pure admiration. 

Her glance shifted to a point beside his head. Mahiru realized that she was no longer looking at him, but at his shoulder. 

“Ku…ro…,” she brought out in a hoarse voice. 

Kuro, who had pretended to be asleep all the while, couldn’t ignore the sound of her voice. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. That was his first mistake. As his eyes connected with hers, he felt a harsh tug at his heart. He jumped down Mahiru’s shoulder, hesitantly took a few steps towards her and lied down next to her arm. 

“Do you know her?” Mahiru asked, sending a bewildered glance in his direction. 

“I used to.” 

“Then how can you be so calm?! She’s dying!” the boy yelled, as he finally seemed to snap out of the trance he had been in for the past half a minute. He pushed his hands against the wound in the girl’s neck. The fragile pale skin had been ripped apart, blood gushing out in large streams of shining red. The teen almost lost it when he felt her heartbeat beneath his hands; the sickening pulse, mixed with the warm blood, made his stomach turn. His head started to feel light…he was on the verge of blackening out.

“It’s for the best, believe me,” Kuro said. 

“What do you mean?! For the best? How can this be for the best? You have to help her!” 

Mahiru just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

Kuro sighed heavily. “What a pain.” 

You don’t understand, he thought.

“Kuro, please…you could just…” 

The vampire glanced up, his eyes two seas of red seriousness. “I’m not going to do that if that’s what you’re thinking of. No way.””

“You have to!” Mahiru said stubbornly, as he tore off a piece of his shirt to press it against the gaping wound. “She doesn’t have much time left.” Those words instigated something in the girl for she suddenly grabbed Kuro’s front paw, a look of pure horror written on her face. “I’m scared,” she rasped. “D…don’t…wa…want…to die.” 

Kuro looked genuinely troubled now. 

“Kuro, I remember what you said about subclasses, but please…” Mahiru was on the verge of tears. The inability to help the girl was taking its toll on him. Did Kuro really expect of him to just sit there and do nothing? If the girl died, he would never be able to forgive himself. This was a scene he was all too familiar with and he knew that his heart would not be able to deal with another bad end. 

“Kuro, please…if you ever even cared a second about her, then…”

Kuro shot him a glance. Mahiru swore that he could see a flash of anger in those red orbs, but it was quickly replaced again by the usual shine of boredom. 

“Fine.”

His soul was already ruined…there was no escape from it so why not make another mistake? 

He turned into his human form and carefully pulled the girl against him. Her skin was awfully cold to the touch; a sharp contrast to the warm blood staining his hands and clothes, giving off that delicious smell. He tried to ignore it, bit back the age old desire to hurt. He was better than that…if only a little. He took over the cloth that Mahiru had used to stop the flow of the bleeding and pressed it against the girl’s neck. She whimpered at the pressure and took hold of his jacket, holding on for dear life. Kuro was a bit flustered at that, but he didn’t have the heart to move her hands. She looked so vulnerable…and so much in pain…it hurt him to look at her. 

He brought his wrist to his mouth and bit down hard, just until he could taste his own blood. It dripped down his arm…this should be sufficient, he thought. The girl was hesitant when she was offered the blood, coughing up some of the red liquid the moment she had swallowed it. 

It must taste really horrible to a human, he mused. 

The girl did her best to keep it in though and soon the effects on her body began to show. The wound on her neck was healing. It became smaller with every drop of blood she swallowed. It was working. He took his wrist away, cradled her in his arms and looked into her dark blue eyes for what would be the last time. 

“Go to sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up.” The girl did as she was told; almost instantly sinking away in a deep sleep. 

Mahiru, who had been watching the whole scene in utter silence and who had worry written all over his face, finally found the courage to break the silence. “Is she going to be okay?”  
“If with okay you mean she’s going to wake up as a vampire, then yes. She’ll be fine,” Kuro said, his voice blunt. 

“Yes, well.” Mahiru scratched the back of his head, not sure what else to say. “Uhm…we should take her home with us. I bet she’ll be confused when she wakes up.” 

Kuro nodded silently, picked up the girl and carried her in his arms. As they walked home, there was no “what a pain” or “so troublesome” to be heard. The vampire did not complain, nor did he utter anything else that could be considered a word or sound. He followed behind Mahiru, who had decided to remain silent as well. It wasn’t like him to stay quiet, but he felt that Kuro, who wasn’t very talkative to begin with, didn’t want to talk right now. In the deafening silence, Mahiru was at the mercy of his own thoughts, running at an unseen speed towards a faraway place full of worry. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t happy the girl had been saved. Vampire or not…he was relieved to know that she would live to see another day. 

But Kuro seemed to think otherwise. Why wasn’t he happy about it? That question bothered the Eve to no ends; the more he mulled it over, the farther away he seemed from an answer. Perhaps he had been wrong in asking to change her after all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Thank you for reading the first chapter of "Catch me when I fall". I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll stay with me on this new adventure.  
> The story came to me after reading the servamp manga (+ watching that gorgeous anime). For now it will focus on the girl and our two boys (well, especially Kuro), but it will follow the manga/anime later on. 
> 
> Also...my native language is not English (as much as I would like it to be)...which means that you might find some (even more than some) grammatical/spelling mistakes. Please, bear with me!


	2. Peaceful sleep

Part 2 

Peaceful sleep

Mahiru switched on the light in the apartment and closed the door after Kuro had entered. The servamp maneuvered his way through the small hallway…no easy task while carrying a sleeping girl in his arms. When they entered the living room, Mahiru’s first idea was to lay the girl on the couch, but he quickly discarded the plan upon remembering that it was rather uncomfortable to sleep in. He scratched his chin in a thoughtful manner and then said aloud: “We could roll out one of the futons?” 

“She can sleep in my bed. I don’t need it,” Kuro counteracted, shifting the girl in his arms. She made some soft noises and instinctively strengthened her grip on his jacket, after which she just continued her peaceful slumber. 

“You can’t sleep while in cat-form, Kuro.” 

“I can sleep in any form.” 

Mahiru wanted to hit himself in the head, feeling a little irritated at Kuro playing dumb. He knew damn well that that wasn’t what he meant. Mahiru was well aware that the servamp of sloth, the very epitome of laziness and sleep, wouldn’t make a point of sleeping while being in cat-form. He had done it many times before, hiding in the weirdest spots of the house; curled up into a little ball of fur. 

The teen had noticed that, from time to time, the vampire seemed to prefer his animal form to take a nap in. That’s why he had left the cat basket where he had put it down the very first day…the day he found kitty Kuro. After discovering that his cat was…well…not quite the pet he seemed to be, he had planned to put it away, but after noticing Kuro’s habit, he had decided against doing so. He didn’t want him to sleep on the floor. Because that just didn’t sit right with the Eve. Kuro wasn’t human, but he wasn’t an animal either. He should not have to sleep on the floor…hell…he shouldn’t even be sleeping in a basket. 

“I know but…,” he started. 

“Don’t worry about me,” Kuro mumbled, his eyes shifting from Mahiru to the girl. 

Worry about her instead was what his glance seemed to say. Mahiru stared at her for a moment and then nodded in silent defeat. His partner was right…they had to think of the girl now. She was their top priority. 

The two of them walked over to Kuro’s room, which was situated at the end of the hall, opposite of Mahiru’s own room. The teen didn’t often enter the place because of Kuro’s crazy ability to create a health-hazardous environment in less than a day. From time to time, he would do an effort and clean up the entire room; every nook and cranny. But since Kuro’s mere presence was enough to turn it into a mess again, the results of his work never lasted long. He always had to restrain himself from cleaning it up again the day after, telling himself that he was not Kuro’s housekeeper and that the vampire should learn to do it himself. It had cost him a lot of self-control, but he had learned to ignore it. 

Well, that is…he had managed to ignore it up until the moment he set foot in the room once more. He felt a stinging sensation in his chest and for a moment he was quite sure he was going to die of a heart-attack. 

“When did you last clean up this place?!” he practically yelled. He knew Kuro was too lazy to clean up, but really…he had thought – no he had hoped- that even someone like him would eventually see the benefits of a clean room. 

“Too much of a pain,” Kuro replied in his usual bored voice. 

The place was dark and a complete mess…typical of Kuro to just ignore all the litter and rubbish lying around. “That lazy vampire”, Mahiru thought, sighing mentally. “He’ll never learn.” Perhaps the teen should give it one more try…vacuuming would do a lot already…but that was a problem he would deal with later on. There were more important things to tend to now. He walked over to Kuro’s bed and was about to pull back the covers when a sudden thought hit him. 

“Wait, what about her clothes?” he asked, before Kuro got the chance to lay the girl down. 

“Aah, that’s troublesome,” the vampire said, obviously disturbed by the unspoken idea. The girl’s clothes were dripping with blood…she couldn’t possibly sleep like that. But that would mean…

“Jeez…we can’t strip her of her clothes, can we? That would be awkward.” The teen scratched the back of his neck and then said: “But we can’t leave it like that either…” Kuro sighed and then nodded into the direction of his closet. “There’s a towel and some clean clothes in there. She can use those for now?” 

“Sounds like a good plan,” Mahiru said, a bit surprised that Kuro came up with something useful. He grabbed the things they needed and spread the towel over the bed, so that the servamp could finally lay the girl down. 

“Now what?” the latter asked. 

“Yes, well, this is going to be really awkward.” 

“Can’t deal.” 

*time skip

A few awkward minutes and a lot of hidden blushes later, the boys had managed to strip the girl of her ruined clothes (the upper layer of course) and put her into clean ones without waking her up. Mahiru had washed of some of the blood of her arms and legs and had only just finished tucking her in like a little child. The girl stirred in her sleep, grabbed the pillow that lay next to her and moved to lie on her side; continuing her peaceful sleep. Kuro watched her for a moment and then said to Mahiru: “I’m going to take a shower. Can’t deal with all the blood.” 

The Eve nodded understandingly. Kuro looked as if he had just slaughtered someone. The blue of his jacket was beyond recognizable, stained by large dark red spots, accompanied by the horrible smell of iron. The rest of his clothes weren’t better off…he looked absolutely terrible. 

“Put your clothes in the laundry. I’ll try to clean them later on. Take some of mine in the meanwhile…since you have no spare clothes left.” 

“Yeah, thanks, mom,” Kuro muttered as he sauntered out of the room. 

“Don’t call me that!” 

“Whatever.” 

Mahiru took one last glance at the girl, who was now snoring softly, and then left to go sit in the living room. He could use a shower himself…the blood on his hands had dried and become sticky. His shirt was ruined beyond repair and his trousers were smeared with blood. To put it simple…his clothes –and Mahiru himself – had seen better days.  
He vowed his hands together, not willing to look at the red that stained them, and left his thoughts to drift back to the girl, sleeping only a few meters away. What had happened to her? Had she been attacked by a vampire? The way in which she was attacked certainly pointed in the direction of one…a very vicious one on top of that. Really, what else could have caused such an ugly wound? It had to be a vampire, right? Perhaps one of Tsubaki’s subclass?

He pondered the question for a while, but since he knew too little about Tsubaki’s subclass, he gave up on it fairly quickly. His thoughts drifted back to a question that was perhaps the most important of them all. Who was she to Kuro? She had recognized him, which meant that they had to have met before. Did she mean something to him? Because he had seemed quite contrary to the idea of changing her. Mahiru really had to coax him into doing it…and he was happy that the servamp had listened to him. The girl would not have deserved to die…not in a way like that…not like an animal on the streets. 

He didn’t understand Kuro’s initial reaction, but since the vampire had seemed to accept the girl’s fate, Mahiru didn’t have the heart to bring up the whole ordeal. Perhaps they had a past together…perhaps there was a good reason as to why he didn’t want to change her…why he had wanted her to die instead. 

There had to be…because he couldn’t believe that Kuro was that heartless. 

He didn’t want to believe it. 

To Mahiru the girl was an enigma. He did not knew the slightest thing about her…not even something as simple as a name. 

A frightening thought entered his mind. What if he had acted recklessly? 

His thoughts were interrupted by Kuro coming out of the bathroom. His blue hair had been dried with a towel, causing it to stick up to all sides. He pulled at the black shirt Mahiru had lend him and then said in a lazy tone: “Just realized that you’re a freaking midget. I barely fit in your clothes.” 

“I’m not a midget! Buy some more spare clothes if you have a problem with mine!” 

“Nah, too troublesome. This will do,” Kuro yawned, as he turned into his cat-form and jumped onto the couch, taking the spot next to the Eve. 

“Yeah, well. I think I’m going to take a shower as well.” 

Kuro was already dozing off, mumbling a short “yeah, yeah” before going completely quiet. Mahiru shook his head in slight disbelief and then quickly made his way towards the bathroom. He couldn’t wait to get rid of all the blood. 

*Time skip

When Mahiru put his head down on his pillow he realized that he was more tired than he had initially thought. The incident with the girl had worn him out, both physically and mentally, and the fact that he had not slept well the previous day – the encounter with the greed pair had kept him awake at night – didn’t help much. He threw a sideway glance at Kuro, who was laying in his wooden basket next to Mahiru’s bed, snoring softly. As he watched the servamp sleep, it suddenly hit Mahiru that he had to care for the girl after all…he gave up his own comfort for her. Mahiru smiled at the thought, closed his heavy-lidded eyes and sunk away in a deep and peaceful slumber. 

When Kuro was sure that his Eve was asleep, he jumped out of the basket, landing quietly on the floor. He padded to the door, which Mahiru always kept ajar and crept towards the room on the opposite side of the hall. He put his weight against the door, pushing it open without as much as a noise. Inside, the girl was still sleeping peacefully, her breathing even and steady. Kuro turned into his human form, bent over her and carefully pulled back the collar of her shirt, revealing smooth pale skin. The wound had fully recovered; no traces to be seen of the traumatic bleeding that had happened only a few hours earlier. She was doing fine. 

Kuro felt relieved…there was no other word to describe the sensation that ran through his body. It felt as if a huge weight – which had controlled every thought and feeling he had experienced in the last few hours - had been lifted of his shoulders. He could finally breath without having to worry about her.

He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the door for a moment, briefly considering to leave, before changing his mind. He turned back into a cat, sought out a warm spot next to the girl and curled up into a little ball of fur. 

*Time skip

When Mahiru woke up the next morning he was surprised to find that Kuro was no longer in his basket. The servamp never woke up before Mahiru did. Never. The teen always had to drag him out of his bed, yelling and scolding, while Kuro put up a faint protest in response.

This was a very unusual thing for Kuro to do and it set off something alarming inside of Mahiru. As an Eve, he instantly felt vulnerable when his servamp wasn’t by his side. There was a certain restlessness inside of his heart; a deep desire to find out where he was. 

Mahiru climbed out of bed and walked towards the living room, excepting to find the vampire sitting in front of the television with a cup of ramen. His expectations, however, weren’t met for Kuro was nowhere to be seen. The living room was shrouded in a deafening silence, which only caused the semi-nervous feeling Mahiru was experiencing to grow stronger. 

Where did he go? 

He…wait. 

Mahiru turned towards the hall as another thought crossed his mind. Did he perhaps go to check on the girl? The Eve ran to the end of the hall and opened the door to Kuro’s room, peeping inside. The place was still dark due to the curtains being closed, but Mahiru could clearly see the small figure of kitty Kuro lying against the back of the girl, curled up and sleeping soundly. The eerie feeling Mahiru had felt faded away upon the sight of him and a small smile appeared on his lips. He closed the door again and returned to his room; feeling relieved and happy at the same time.

Kuro definitely cared about the girl. That he knew for sure now…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of chapter two! I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Also, if there are any questions, then shoot…I’ll be happy to answer them (except when they deal with the storyline, because I’m not going to spoil anything sorry). Okay, maybe one tiny little spoiler…the girl is going to wake up in the next chapter (surprise surprise) so we should get some interaction then.  
> About the length of the chapters…I know that they are not that long, but I noticed that I tend to write more regularly if the chapters are shorter (keeps me motivated, I guess).  
> I would also like to thank all of you for the reviews and for faving/following this story. I greatly appreciate all the feedback I receive. 
> 
> Well, that’s it for today. Until next time.


	3. That's all I need

Part 3

That's all I need

Kuro woke up when he heard a soft gasp, followed by a lot of frantic movement. He stretched his legs and yawned, a little bit annoyed by the lack of timing the girl displayed. She had woken up right in the middle of his nap and his dream – the ultimate quest for the perfect pillow – was once again interrupted. He guessed it just wasn't meant to be.

"Where…where am I?" her soft voice asked, betraying a light form of panic underneath. "Why is it so dark? What happened to me?"

In one of her movements, the girl's hand accidentally brushed against Kuro's back, causing her to go crazy a nanosecond later. "Aaah, what's that! Get away from me!" In her haste to get away from whatever her imagination thought Kuro to be, she became tangled in the bedsheets and fell out of the bed, landing on the floor with a hard thud.

Kuro moved to the side and looked down on the half-vampire, half cocoon thing, desperately rolling around to free herself. She really seemed as if she was going to die of a panic-attack (that is…if she had been able to die at all).

She needed to calm down…really…what better than a cute cat to comfort her?

Kuro jumped down, meowed softly and brushed past the girl's arm. She went completely silent for a moment, her movements stopping altogether and her breathing the only noise in the room.

"Kuro?"

He nudged her hand, signaling that it was indeed him. The girl let out a sigh of relief; there was some more movement, followed by two warm hands picking him up. "What are you doing here?" her voice asked softly, as her fingers stroke his head tenderly.

Only mere seconds after the question, Mahiru entered the room. He had heard the noise and was worried that something bad had happened. He found the girl, sitting on the floor, half of her body entangled in the bedsheets; a somewhat bewildered look in her eyes. She was staring at him like a deer in the headlights…scared. She held Kuro in her arms, clinging to him for dear life.

"He's probably the only thing familiar to her," he thought. Somehow…she knew him.

"Wh…who are you?" the girl stuttered.

"That's Mahiru," Kuro yawned before Mahiru could introduce himself. "He won't hurt you."

"He talks!" the girl yelled, abruptly letting go of the tiny cat. Kuro fell on his back on the bedsheets.

"Cat-abuser," he murmured. "What a pain." He wasn't serious about it though. He knew that talking to her while in cat-form would lead to such a reaction…she had always believed that he was a cat. The illusion was finally shattered.

"Again! Am I dreaming? Is this one of my weird dreams I can't wake up from?" She put her hands to the sides of her head, staring at the ground.

"Uhm…this is not a dream," Mahiru said as he took a few careful steps towards her, crouching down next to her small figure.

"Why don't you come and sit in the living room with us? I'll make you some tea and then we'll explain everything to you, okay?" He sent her a small reassuring smile and reached out a hand. The girl stared at him for a moment and then cautiously took his hand.

The girl sat on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest and one of the blankets loosely draped around her. Kuro sat next to her, fully awake for once, and stared at her with his big red orbs. The girl stared right back at him and then said: "So…you actually talk, right? It's not me going crazy?"

"You're not crazy," he said as he laid down, wagging his tail a bit.

The girl gasped in surprise.

"But you lived with me…how come I've never heard you talk before?"

Kuro sighed. This was going to be so troublesome to explain.

Luckily for him, Mahiru came in with three cups of steaming tea. He offered one to the girl, who took it with a grateful smile and then took a sip of his own cup. He had placed Kuro's on the table.

"Don't you want yours, Kuro?" He asked, when he saw that Kuro didn't move an inch.

Kuro rolled on his back and said: "Just don't want to scare miss panic over here. Not sure if she would survive another surprise…such a fragile mind."

"Hey! I'm not fragile!" she countered immediately, sending him a sour look.

Kuro eyed her for a moment. "Fine with me."

In the blink of an eye, the cat was gone, his place taken by vampire Kuro. The girl froze in her spot, her eyes growing wide at the transformation that had appeared before her. Kuro leaned in close to her, their noses almost touching. "Boo."

The girl instinctively threw herself backwards and fell off the couch, landing ungracefully next to it. She quickly hid behind it, her eyes peeping over the edge to spy on Kuro.

"Oi, are you alright?" Mahiru asked worriedly as he jumped up with the intention to calm the girl down. She ignored him entirely and kept her eyes fixed on Kuro, who stared back at her with a blank expression. He could practically see the chaos of thoughts inside her pretty little head…it was present in every aspect of her face.

"You…," she pointed at the servamp. "I let you sleep in my bed! For two whole damn years! How come I didn't notice this?" She turned around and slumped against the couch, her head in her hands. "This is not happening…I must be dreaming. Wake up, just wake up already." She pinched herself in the cheek, without result.

"Told you she wouldn't survive it," Kuro said. Was that a hint of amusement in his voice?

"This is ridiculous. I mean…I can't deal with this."

Mahiru looked at Kuro for a moment, who already knew what the Eve was going to say.

"She sounds like you. Some kind of side effect?"

"Nah, that's just her."

"What are you talking about?! Don't go talking behind my back! I'm right here and I demand to know what's going on!"

"Just calm down first," Kuro said, leaning over the edge of the couch and softly patting the girl's head. He turned into a cat and jumped on her shoulder. The girl was a bit flustered at first, but soon realized that neither Kuro, nor Mahiru meant her any harm. She scooped up the little cat so that she could look him in the eyes. "You've got one hell of an explaining to do."

"Can't deal," Kuro groaned, closing his eyes.

"Don't you dare to go to sleep now!"

Mahiru scratched the back of his neck as he took in the scene before him. It kind of remembered him of the bickering between him and Kuro…he just didn't remember it to be that comical.

"Do I really have to? Can't you just be soothed by my cute form?"

The girl huffed, looking away as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "You're not that cute."

"Ah, ah…don't go contradicting yourself now," Kuro said.

"That was before I knew that you could talk and change into a human!"

"Well…technically, he's not human," Mahiru chimed in the background. The girl gave him a slightly annoyed look. "Seriously? More surprises…not sure if I can deal with those." She sighed, inhaled deeply and then said in a calm voice: "Okay, shoot…all of it." With those words she shot an expecting glance in Kuro's direction.

"Where to start?" Kuro yawned.

"Why don't you sit down on the couch…again…it's more comfortable, right?" Mahiru offered.

"So…you're a vampire and he has to take care of you?"

"Actually, it's supposed to be the other way around," Mahiru said, some sweat drops gliding down his face.

"I see, why doesn't that surprise me?" she muttered, while absent-mindedly stroking Kuro's head. He had made himself comfortable in her warm arms, purring softly.

"I'm really sorry, Mahiru. But what does this have to do with me? Except for the fact that my ex-pet is a servamp?"

Mahiru sent her a questioned look. "You don't remember the attack?"

"What attack?" she asked with a frown.

Mahiru felt like hitting himself in the head at the absurdity of the whole situation. How come she didn't remember anything of the incident?

Kuro cracked open an eye to look at Mahiru and then stated: "She has temporarily lost those memories. When you experience something as traumatic as that, every memory of it is repressed."

"Well, that sounds logical, I think," the teen said. "When will they return?" Not that he was looking forward to it…he didn't want the girl to have to experience something like that ever again.

"Don't know," Kuro said, not sounding too interested in it either. "Today, tomorrow, next week or month…who knows."

"Don't know," Kuro said, not sounding to interested in it either. "Today, tomorrow, next week or month…who knows."

"Okay, uh…wait, what's your name? Can't believe I forgot to ask you that."

"Eirin. Eirin Shirai."

"Eirin, it's very important that you listen carefully…and that you try your best not to freak out."

Eirin's face fell when she heard those words. What else was there to freak out about?

"Okay," she said, her voice heavy and wary.

"Last night, Kuro and I found you in an alleyway. You were severely wounded…on the edge of dying."

The girls eyes grew wide in disbelief. How could she have been on the edge of dying when she was sitting here…alive and well?

"I know that this sounds absolutely ridiculous, since you obviously feel good, but listen…there's a reason as to why you're still alive."

"Can't deal," Kuro muttered, hiding his head under her arm.

"When a vampire gives his blood to a dying person, the person is saved by turning into a vampire himself."

In the moments that followed, a loud noise broke through the deafening silence. The sound of shattering porcelain, breaking down as it met with the ground, shards scattering around everywhere. Streams of tears flown down the girl's face…her eyes broken and filled with sorrow.

"No, it can't be. I…" Her hands were trembling uncontrollably, the rest of her body following shortly after. Kuro jumped out of her arms, landing next to her and looking up with a look of worry in his red eyes.

"Eirin," Mahiru said as he reached out a hand.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed, as she flinched away from him. She jumped up and ran away, frantically looking for the front door. She had to get out…to get away from this maddening place as far as possible. She found the door, swung it open and ran.

"Eirin!" Mahiru was already on his feet, ready to follow her. Kuro changed into his human form and grabbed his Eve's wrist, bringing him to a stop. "Mahiru, wait."

"I can't…what if she accidentally hurts herself?"

Kuro stared at him for a moment, seemingly considering what he had said, and then let go. "Fine." He knew Mahiru…he wouldn't be able to stop him from helping her anyway. There was no use in trying.

"Okay, I'll go left, you go right. Call me when you've found her. And don't go too far away." Kuro watched Mahiru run off. He waited till his Eve was out of sight and then turned around, slowly walking away into the opposite direction, following the invisible thread that lay in front of him. From the moment the girl became his subclass, he had been able to feel her presence. It manifested itself as a warm, fuzzy feeling, somewhere at the back of his mind, directly linked to his heart.

He didn't know how this feeling was possible in the first place, since bonds that deep were only ever forged between Servamps and Eves, never between Servamps and their subclass. What could be the cause of that sudden difference? Why would she be different of any other person turned into a subclass?

It was a question that hammered through his mind, demanding an answer. But as much as he thought of it, he couldn't come up with a plausible explanation. There were still a lot of things about his own race that he didn't knew – he stumbled across them from time to time - and this probably was one of them. Anyway, the fact that there was connection between him and the girl was a convenient thing. It meant he would find her, wherever she went.

He only had to follow the thread.

And it ran up the staircase, situated at the end of the apartment hall, all the way up to the top floor.

"Ah, what at pain", Kuro thought, as he started to climb the stairs.

On the roof, a cold summer breeze caught him in its embrace, filling his ears with its silent melancholic song; a song befitting the mood the girl was in. He could feel the distress and the pain radiating from her. She was near.

The night sky was lighted by thousands of stars, the colourful city lights shining in the world below. In the pale moonlight he could see the small figure of Eirin, sitting on the edge of the roof, her knees pulled up to her chest and her cheeks wet with tears.

"Go away," she said without looking at him.

For a moment, Kuro felt like leaving. She deserved to be angry with him…to hate him. If he had just been a bit more stubborn then she wouldn't have to go through this hell right now. She would have been better off dead, right?

But then again…she wasn't. She was sitting right in front of him, her beating heart proof of her being fully alive, and her mind consumed by chaos. She didn't know how to deal with all of this. Not with the news, nor with herself. Right now, she resembled him more than anyone else.

"This is going to be troublesome," he thought as he walked over and sat down next to her. She sharply turned to face him and said: "Are you deaf, Kuro?"

"Selectively," he replied in a dry tone and without looking at her.

She huffed and turned her head away. "I don't want to talk to you."

"I get that."

"You do?" she replied sarcastically. "Really, I don't feel like joking right now. I'm leaving."

She stood up, ready to leave.

"Stay."

"What?" She looked down at him, a frown on her face.

"Stay here."

"Just because you turned me into a monster, doesn't mean that you can command me. I'm done here." Her voice was furious, a blazing stream of poisoned words. She turned around and started to stomp away, barely able to suppress another stream of tears, pricking behind her eyes.

"You think I actually enjoyed destroying your life?" Kuro's voice had gone cold, like frost in winter. "You would have been better off dead. It would have certainly been less troublesome for you than it is now."

Eirin turned around, disbelief written all over her face and a shade of hurt clearly visible in her eyes.

"First you leave me and now you're wishing me dead?"

"Ah, you're so troublesome." He was sure he could feel a headache coming. He got up, walked over to her and leaned in close. "I'm not wishing you dead. What I'm trying to say is…that I didn't want this for you."

The girl looked up at him, her red eyes vulnerable and on the verge of crying.

"You…didn't…I…," she sunk down on her knees and let the tears flow. "I'm sorry…I know I'm unreasonable…I know I'm troublesome…I just can't…I don't know how to deal with this. I…I…feel lost."

Well, true to be honest, he felt lost too…in many different ways and because of many diverse reasons. She was one of those reasons. He was supposed to take responsibility for this girl, but the world knew that responsibility wasn't his forte. Whenever he got it, he messed up. Terribly.  
He was the kind of person that followed others, not the other way around. Mahiru was much better in these kinds of things than he was and ever would be. If only he was here now…what would he say or do?

He scratched the back of his neck as he thought about it and then crouched down next to Eirin.

"Talk to me. Like you used to do back then."

The girl wiped a few tears away and then said, a little surprised: "You were listening…back then?"

"Most of the time, except for the really troublesome moments."

She let out a soft chuckle as she wiped away all the remaining tears with her sleeve. "Thanks, Kuro. That's all I need."

Kuro was a little surprised to hear that. Had he really managed to do something good for once? Had it really been all she needed? The knowledge that someone was willing to listen to her?

A slight blush spread across his cheeks when he caught sight of the grateful smile she sent him. He quickly changed back into his cat-form, hoping that she hadn't seen it, and then said: "Yeah, well…you're welcome, I guess."

She chuckled, picked him up and let him climb on her shoulder. The fact that she allowed him to do so was a sign of trust; he just felt it was. He closed his eyes for a moment, relieved at the current state of affairs. Everything was alright for now. His job was done…well…for today that was.

God…that reminded him: all the fuss had caused him to miss out on diner!

"Can we go and eat some ramen now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you guys liked it (let me know what you think of it). I know that there are some things that still need to be explained (for example: what's Eirin's past with Kuro? Or...why does Eirin call Kuro by his given name?) I'm not going to spoil anything...I'm sorry about that. Everything will eventually become clear in the following chapters. 
> 
> Now...about those following chapters...I'm in university and the academic year starts on monday...which means that I'll have less time to write (especially the first three days). Don't worry, it won't take too long before the next chapter will be up. I promise. Stay tuned :)
> 
> Also...Do you like the girl's name? I spent a lot of time searching for a name that would fit her and I eventually came across Eirin. In Japanese it means "Eternal Jewel" (the name is widely spread though...also found in Scandinavian and quite a few other cultures). It fits her rather well, but you'll see what I mean by that in the future.


	4. You can sleep in my bed

Part 4

You can sleep in my bed

Mahiru felt truly exhausted when he returned home. He had run around the neighbourhood, looking for Eirin, and had not missed a single street or suspicious looking alley while doing so. He had run and run, until his lungs had started to put up a protest with every step he took.

But despite his efforts, he had not been able to find the girl. Needless to say that he was worried now. Where could she have run to? He put his hands on his knees and tried to control his frantic breathing. It felt as if his lungs would burst out of his chest at any moment…a thick layer of sweat covered his forehead. He straightened himself and thought of what he was supposed to do now. He had no idea where Kuro ran off to, nor if he had managed to find the girl. He knew he shouldn't rely too much on the servamp, though. He was probably taking a nap somewhere while pretending to search.

He opened the door to his apartment and walked inside, surprised to hear the sound of the TV playing. When he got into the living room, he found Kuro and Eirin sitting in front of the television; both eating a package of instant ramen. Mahiru experienced a weird kind of déjà vu before bursting into a fit of rage.

"You guys can't be serious! You were here all the time?!"

The noise caught the attention of the two vampires, who both turned their heads in his direction; one looked surprised, the other bored.

"I was running around like crazy…what for?" Mahiru tried to calm himself, but he failed miserably at it. Right now, he felt like tearing his hair out. "I said…give me a call when you find her." That last was directed at Kuro.

"Yeah, I forgot about it," Kuro said, not looking as if he felt guilty about it.

"God, for what purpose did I ever buy you a phone?" The fact that Kuro was almost always with him had made it quite an useless purchase…but it had been meant for rare situations like these.

"It's useless, can't play any games on it."

"Kuro!"

"Uh…Mahiru?" Eirin appeared into his view; her pale face a pallet of guilt. "I, uh…I know this will sound a bit…wrong for me to say, after what I've done, but I really want to apologize for the trouble I've caused you and Kuro. You guys tried to help me and I was just being selfish and sinking away in self-pity." She made a bow and said: "Please accept my sincere apol…"

"Woah, you don't have to bow!" Mahiru said, shocked at the gesture.

She looked up and then straightened. "I felt it was appropriate…"

"Really, it isn't necessary. I accept your apologies, Eirin. And sorry for my little outburst… I was just…"

"Worried, I get it," she said, putting a hand on his arm and sending him a soft smile. He smiled in return; feeling relieved to know that she understood what he meant.

"Mahiru is apologizing…that's a first," Kuro said as he took another bite of his food. "You're a good influence."

"Hey!"

"You know what," Eirin said, cutting of the bickering before it even started. "As a way of apology, I'll make you dinner, Mahiru."

"You don't have to trouble yourself, Eirin."

"It's no trouble at all," she said with a bright smile. The idea of doing something useful for him made her feel better right away.

"Can you make me some too?" Kuro chimed in the background.

"You're already eating, Kuro," Eirin said with a grin in his direction.

"Meanie."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's nice not having to cook dinner for once," Mahiru thought as he laid down on the couch, resting a bit. Having Eirin around was a nice change to the usual daily routine…he had thought different of her when she had ran away though…and now he regretted the very existence of that thought. Troublesome was not the way to describe her. She was just going through a very difficult time right now and she needed people whom she could trust and whom she could run to. Mahiru intended to be one of those people…and he was quite sure that Kuro thought the same. After all, he seemed to like her a lot.

Which reminded him: he really had to ask Kuro about his past with the girl. She had mentioned that he had been her pet…that she let him sleep in her bed for two years…which had to mean that he stayed with her for quite a long time, right?

"Oi, Kuro…," he sat up, ready to ask the servamp, but he was nowhere to be seen.

From the kitchen he could hear Kuro's voice saying: "Don't you need someone to sample the food?"

"Are you volunteering?" Eirin asked, her voice tingled with laughter. "Don't worry, Kuro. I've made some for you too."

Mahiru smiled at the conversation. She seemed to know Kuro's quirks already.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Here you go. I do hope it will be edible," she said as she put two plates on the table with delicious smelling food.

"Thanks for the food!" Mahiru said enthusiastically. "I bet it will be great!"

"No bets needed," Kuro said.

"That's sweet, guys. But you'd better get started before it gets cold."

The boys did as they were told, eating in silence. Eirin ate something as well, but just as with the ramen she had had before, she noticed that the food tasted rather bland…as if she couldn't fully enjoy the different flavours of it. What was wrong with her? Was this something normal for a vampire? Kuro didn't seem to have the problem…if he had it too, he wouldn't be so keen to eat, right? She decided that she would ask him…yeah, she would ask him later on. For now she just wanted to enjoy their silent company and this feeling of normal simplicity.

"So…uhm…Eirin. I don't want to be rude, but it's getting really late already and well…I was wondering…uhm…not sure how to say this…"

"He wants to know whether you are staying over or not," Kuro said in his usual blunt way.

"Kuro, don't say it that way!"

"Honestly, I hadn't thought of it yet…I don't really know what to do now that I'm…" The word got stuck in her throat…it was really hard to say it aloud, because it sounded so unreal. "…a vampire." She had to accept it…there was no other way.

"What about your parents? Wouldn't they be worried now that you've been gone for almost 24 hours?" Mahiru asked.

"She lives alone," Kuro said in the background. Upon hearing his words, Mahiru sent her a questioned look.

This was a topic she had really wanted to avoid talking about, but she had to tell him at least the gist of the awful story. The outcome of it.

"My parents died a few years ago. I live on my own now. My aunt was so kind to support me up until the moment I was old enough to look for work."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"You look younger though…if I may say so," Mahiru remarked, leaning his head on his hand.

"Yeah, I've heard that before," she said, not able to recall anyone in particular.

Mahiru nodded; his face had taken on a glance of worry. "Work might become a problem though…as a vampire, you can't go out during the day."

She frowned; not fully believing what she was told.

"It's true…no sunlight," Kuro asserted with a yawn.

"But…you can go out at day, can't you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, because I'm an original one…and I can only go out in cat-form."

"Damn…this is quite…inconvenient….still don't know how I'll ever be able to deal with all of this." The chances of ever living a pretty normal live again had disappeared like snow before the sun.

"Don't worry, Eirin. You can stay with us…if you don't mind, that is," Mahiru added in a thoughtful tone.

"That's really kind, but I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not a bother! Don't think that!" Mahiru said, indignantly.

She shrugged half-heartedly. She just didn't want to intrude on their lives.

"We just have to find you a place to sleep in."

"You can sleep in my bed," Kuro said, while stretching a bit.

"Kuro, don't put it that way! She's a girl after all!" Mahiru yelled; looking as if he was only seconds away from hitting the vampire on the head.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"I'll roll out a futon," Mahiru said, moving to get to the task.

"Then put it in my room. I'll sleep on it."

"Kuro, you really don't have to do that," Eirin began, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Why not? I don't mind."

"Aah…if you insist." She said, while scratching the back of her head.

"I do," he said, after which he turned into a cat. "Don't argue with a cute pet." She rolled her eyes in an exaggerating manner, but bent down to pick him up only seconds later, holding him in her warm embrace. "Thank you." Her voice was soft and audible to Kuro only. He purred in response, laid his head on her shoulder and dozed off…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I'm back with a new chapter! It's a short one (because the academic year started last monday and I've been busy with university in the past few days).   
> Now, what did you think of this chapter? There weren't that much KuroxEirin moments but I'll make up for those in the next chapters :) Promise!


	5. Don't blame yourself

Part 5

Don't blame yourself

Before moving in, Eirin had taken up the task of cleaning up Kuro's room. Actually, making the place livable again would have been a better description of what she had been doing for the past few hours. She had told Mahiru about her plans and the boy had almost died of happiness. Finally, fate had managed to get him to cross paths with someone else who couldn't stand dirt. Eirin wasn't as obsessive about it like him, but in comparison to Kuro – who just didn't care – she seemed like some cleaning goddess.

Eirin had organized Kuro's stuff (which hadn't been all that much) and had thrown away all the rubbish. Kuro himself hadn't put up much of a protest…he had gone to sleep as soon as the cleaning had begun and – non-surprisingly – only woke up when most of the work was done.

"What's with humans cleaning up all the time?" He yawned as he got up and took a good look at the room, which was tidied up to a point where he didn't recognize it anymore.

"I'm not human, remember," Eirin said, as she folded Kuro's washed clothes, pilling them with neat precision. "So you're the exception here."

"What a pain. Can't deal," he said, as he rolled onto his back.

"You really did wonders with this place," Mahiru said in admiration, as he maneuvered his way into the room, while carrying a rolled-up futon with him. "It's a pity it won't stay this way, though." A slight nod in Kuro's direction was enough to indicate what he meant with that.

"No worries, we'll keep this place clean. Right, Kuro?"

"Don't just include me like that," he said in a bored and uninterested voice. She folded her arms and shot him a glare, which caused him to reformulate his previous comment almost immediately.

"Ah, fine with me."

Eirin put her hands on her hips and smiled triumphantically.

"Really? You listen to her, but not to me? I'm your Eve, for God's sake," Mahiru complained.

"Ah, this is becoming troublesome again," Kuro groaned, as he made himself as small as possible, wishing he could just disappear altogether.

"Men always obey women…they are scared of the consequences," Eirin said with a grin in Mahiru's direction. The teen sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and muttered something along the line of: "Not sure whether that's the reason, but okay…" Eirin could put up quite a scary face, but he could hardly imagine Kuro being afraid of her or the consequences she had had in mind. He might have just said it to keep her happy…things were less troublesome that way after all.

He put the futon down on the floor and took some blankets out of the closet to put on the make-shift bed. When he was done, he motioned for Kuro to come over. The cat gladly obliged and jumped from one bed onto the other. "Ah, so soft and comfortable. I could sleep right away."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Mahiru said. "Will you be okay, Eirin? You don't mind having to share a room with him…I mean…since you're a girl?"

"Nah, Kuro used to sleep in my bed when he was still my pet…I don't mind him being here. And besides, he's quite the gentleman…wouldn't hurt a fly."

"See? Girls love me," Kuro yawned.

"Yeah, but you could have told me you were a vampire though."

"You would have banned me from your bed," he whined in response.

Mahiru listened to the conversation, but still couldn't get his head around most of what they were saying. It was about time he asked them about the past they shared. "So…uhm…when did you two meet?" He wasn't able to hide the curiosity in his voice. He sat down on the futon and pulled Kuro into his lap, stroking his head and gently scratching behind his ears. The chances of him running away in order to avoid the topic had become non-existent now. After all, what lazy cat preferred running away over snuggling? He looked up, noticing the change in atmosphere that had descended upon them. A deafening silence had taken hold of the room and the people within it. Eirin's face was painted with colorless sadness, but it only showed for a fraction of a second before disappearing into nothing. The look that replaced the strong emotion was a reminiscent one, as if she was recalling something that happened a very long time (not a mere two years) ago. It was so different from the sorrowful look seconds earlier that Mahiru couldn't help but think he had imagined things.

"Ah, well. I guess it was about three years ago. I was out to buy something from the store around the corner, when I found him, hiding under a wooden crate. It had been freezing cold…rain had been pouring down all day…When I saw him, all alone and in a miserable state, I just didn't have the heart to leave him there. I tried to keep him warm and took him home with me. And that's how we ended up together. As for his name…I called him Kuro because of his fur."

"Yes, I already wondered why you called him by the name I gave him," Mahiru said in a thoughtful tone.

"That's because you both have the same creativity level," Kuro muttered, as he stretched a bit. "Level zero."

"It's not the most original name, but it's simple. And simple is good," Eirin said in defense. "And besides, I like "Kuro". It has a nice roll to it." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I would like to go to sleep. It's been quite an exhausting day and I feel like I could really use a good nap."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Mahiru said, as he put Kuro down beside him. The vampire cat protested a bit, missing the warmth and the petting.

"I'm going to brush my teeth," Eirin declared. "Thanks for lending me some clothes…even though I really don't want to know how I got in them in the first place." She tried not to think of it…her head just wasn't ready to deal with the amount of awkwardness and shameful blushes such thoughts might bring her.

"Ah, yes,…let's not talk about that," Mahiru said, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Yeah…well…anyway…I'm going to get some of my stuff tomorrow…so that I can return these." She said, while pulling at the loose-fitting shirt. "Goodnight, Mahiru." With those words she ran off to the bathroom, leaving Mahiru and Kuro alone. When he was sure she was out of hearing range, the Eve turned towards the servamp, asking the one question that had been lying on his tongue for a while. "Why did you leave her?"

Kuro, who had been dozing off, cracked open an eye and sent his Eve a confused look.

"What?"

"Why did you leave Eirin?" I mean…I found you in the streets…which means there has to have been a point where you decided to leave her. Why? From what she told earlier it sounded as if she looked after you rather well."

"Being a vampire is hard to hide."

"You didn't really care to hide it with me."

"Ah, you're such a pain," Kuro mumbled; irritation clearly audible in his voice. "I didn't want her to know about me…it would only have caused her trouble…"

"She would have been a fine Eve though."

"You're fine too so it doesn't matter," Kuro said, as he turned his back to Mahiru, indicating that the conversation was over. The teen felt that Kuro was hiding something with regard to Eirin…and Eirin herself seemed to be in the dark as to why he had left her. Why else would she cut off her story at such a convenient point? Mahiru didn't want to pry, but he couldn't help but feel curious. He stood up and decided that he shouldn't push Kuro to tell him…that wasn't the right thing to do. He would tell him eventually…when the time was right. He knew he would.

Eirin tossed and turned in her bed, but whatever sleeping position she tried out, she just couldn't fall asleep. She was exhausted; her eyes were heavy and her mind was tired like hell, but something was keeping her awake. Some nagging thought at the back of her mind she just couldn't get rid of. She rolled onto her side and stared into the darkness. She had not yet become accustomed to her enchanted eyesight; being able to see in the dark was completely new to her. Beside her, she could make out the faint line of Kuro's figure. He had turned back into his human form, claiming it to be more comfortable to sleep in, and was already in some distant dreamland – or so she thought.

"Go to sleep, Eirin," he said, his voice a low sigh.

"You're still awake?" she asked, not able to keep the astonishment out of her voice.

"You're noisy." That roughly translated as "I'm worried about you so I decided to stay awake", but Eirin, despite being familiar with the vampire's behavior, did not fully comprehend the art of interpreting Kuro's words. She was under the impression that she had really kept him awake.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

She looked at him. His back was turned towards her; the only visible feature peeking out from beneath the blankets was his blue mop of hair.

"Kuro?"

"Hmm…"

"Why did you leave?" Her words were accompanied by an emotional crack, barely audible but heart-wrenching for those who did hear it.

There was the noise of rustling, followed by an almost painful silence.

"Was…was it something I did?"

"No," the answer was quick and firm. "You didn't do anything wrong so there's no reason to blame yourself. I don't want you to think that way."

"Okay…but…uhm…," she fiddled with the covers, feeling slightly nervous about what she was going to ask. "Do you think you'll ever tell me the reason?"

"Probably will…but not now."

"I can live with that," she said, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Thank you…I've been thinking about it for a while now. Ever since you left I was blaming myself. And then we met again and well…with the whole vampire thing…I thought…it might have been because of that…I mean…it must have been hard to hide it from me. But you know…that didn't make me feel any better either, because…I could tell you everything, but the idea that you couldn't entrust me with your secret…I felt guilty. I thought I wasn't reliable enough or something…so thanks, I'm happy to know that it wasn't because of me or something I did. I feel better now."

"You're such a trouble," Kuro sighed, after which he turned into his cat form and jumped onto her bed.

"I know," Eirin muttered sleepily, as she pulled him close to her, engulfing him with her warmth. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her to that other world of peace and quiet. With the nagging thought erased from her mind, it did not take long before she sunk away in a subconscious state. As she walked the fine line between sleep and dreams, she was more than ever aware of the bond between her and Kuro. It was pulsing between them, like a strong heartbeat; an invisible thread spun around their hearts…connecting them forever…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back. It took me longer than I wanted though. I've been busy with university (second week but it's already busy as hell). I'll try to update at least once a week.
> 
> As for the chapter…what did you think of it? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.


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